In recent years, a demand has arisen for vacation-type homes or living units which can be transported on public highways and either temporarily or permanently installed at a desired location. Such structures are generally prebuilt or mass produced in a central location and transported in their entirety to a specified location. Mobile or "trailer" homes are the forerunners of this variety of structure as are camper units designed to be fitted in the bed of a pickup truck. Mass production techniques have also been applied to the production of individual apartment units which are taken to a central location and assembled into apartment houses or complexes.
In each of these cases, since forms of transportation other than land transportation are usually too expensive to be feasible, the size of the living unit, and the living space included therein, is limited by the maximum size limitation for loads which can be transported on public highways. Typically, such living space, which must include space for furnishings, appliances, and the like, has been limited to a width dimension no greater than 12 to 14 feet in the United States. Thus, the problem of obtaining adequate living space in prebuilt, economically transportable living units continues as a difficult design obstacle.
An associated problem with such prebuilt units is the difficulty and expense of installation at a desired location. Typically, prior prefabricated living units have necessitated elaborate foundations requiring formidable construction and preparation prior to the installation of the unit. Such preparation adds greatly to the expense of completing a unit and therefore has reduced the desirability of using prebuilt techniques. Hence the provision of permanent support structures which are simple, efficient, stable, and yet require a minimum of preparation before installation of a prebuilt living unit has also been a difficult problem.